


A Little Like a Phoenix

by Mellifluor



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Ableism, Ableist Language, Captain America: The First Avenger, Captain America: The First Avenger Compliant, Comfort, F/M, Fluff, Gen, M/M, Missing Scene, Mutual Pining, Pining, Post-Serum Steve Rogers, Pre-Slash, Reunions, physical affection, this is just softness okay they're so soft in so many scenes and I needed more of it, you can read this as pre-slash or unrequited depending on how you squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-02
Updated: 2020-07-02
Packaged: 2021-03-04 17:35:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25030246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mellifluor/pseuds/Mellifluor
Summary: “They told me it didn't just make you big, that it fixed all your problems. Is it true?” Steve nods.Set after the rescue mission at Azzano. Steve and Bucky take a minute to reunite and catch Bucky up on all of Steve's changes.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes & Steve Rogers, James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers, Peggy Carter/Steve Rogers
Comments: 2
Kudos: 58





	A Little Like a Phoenix

As soon as Steve finishes reporting in and being reprimanded for his rescue mission, he goes looking for Bucky in the medical tent that was set up to tend to all the freed prisoners. It doesn’t take long to notice him, sitting slouched in a cot next to one of the walls, nodding at something a nurse is saying before she moves away to tend to another patient. Despite looking considerably better without the sheen of sweat and crusted blood in his ears, Bucky looks worse for wear. His shoulders seem to sag in relief when he notices Steve, though he doesn't smile. Steve crosses the distance between them with speed he's not quite yet used to, before Bucky even manages to stand, finally feeling some of the tension he's carried since he found Bucky on that table ease from his frame as he gathers him in a fierce embrace, the flimsy cot creaking dangerously as he sits down next to him. After a minute being locked in a mutual vice grip Bucky huffs a laugh and pulls back, shaking his head up - _up,_ and that's definitely something - at Steve. 

“I dunno if I'll ever get used to this, pal. You sure I'm not still dreamin?” Steve's face takes on a mischievous smile. 

“You dream about me often, Buck?” he jokes, and his voice would be impossibly soft and fond were it not for the teasing overnote. 

“Not like this I don't,” Bucky says, eyes widening in incredulity, squeezing Steve's arm for emphasis and looking dead serious as he does it. That surprises a laugh out of Steve, and Bucky makes a sound somewhere between a laugh and a cough, looking off to the side. 

“They told me about Project Rebirth,” he says after a moment. He lets the statement hang in the air for a second, looking at Steve for a reaction. Steve, to his credit, just waits for him to continue, seemingly unfazed. Bucky shakes his head at the ground before continuing.

“Steven Grant Rogers, I ever tell you how much of an insufferable punk you are? You just don't know when to give up. Knowing you you probably managed to wheedle your way in the night I shipped out.” Steve's laugh sounds a bit forced, and he studiously avoids Bucky's teasing gaze. “Steve!” Bucky hisses, cuffing him upside the head, though his expression seems as much awe as horror when Steve looks back up. “I oughtta give you one more than that but it seems like it worked out pretty well for you.” Bucky flicks his gaze down, indicating what he means, giving his chest a playful shove. He stills for a moment though, his hand hovering just over Steve's chest. 

“The docs already gave me an exam, Sergeant,” Steve says, smirking. 

“Go to hell, Rogers,” Bucky retorts with an answering smile, then pauses, adding more tentatively, “... can I?” 

Steve stutters a nod, a small crease between his brows. He and Bucky have always been pretty hands on, Bucky in particular, so he doesn't really see a need for him to ask permission now. He hopes Bucky doesn't start treating him differently because of “Captain America.” He realizes pretty quickly once Bucky touches him though that something about the context of the current situation makes it more noticeable than the other times they've casually thrown an arm around the other or soothed a hand down their backs. This is purposeful. Intimate. Bucky's undivided attention is on Steve, and he finds himself taking a deep, steadying breath under the scrutiny. Bucky's jaw drops in response, a single breath leaving his open mouth, and Steve smiles a little, breathing in again for his benefit. Loud. Clear. Effortless.

“They told me it didn't just make you big,” Bucky says, swallowing, “that it fixed all your problems. Is it true?” Steve nods. “ _Everything_?” Bucky presses, adding before Steve can respond, “it give you a sense of self preservation?”

Steve shoves him, laughing.

"Hey fuck you," is his reply. Bucky just grins at him for a second, watching him laugh. Steve starts to wonder if he’s about to say something when Bucky seems to remember he was interrogating him about a top secret government experiment.

“Asthma?” he questions, even though he doesn't need to, eyes fixed on Steve’s chest. 

“Gone.” 

Bucky taps his shoulder, motioning for him to sit sideways on the cot, and Steve turns his back to him, sitting up straighter because he _can_ and turning his head to observe Bucky over his shoulder from the corner of his eye as he runs his hands down Steve's spine. 

Scoliosis?” he breathes. 

“Corrected,” Steve replies, turning back around. Bucky knocks their ankles together, tilting his head toward them. 

“Flat feet?” 

“Normal arches.” 

Bucky's shaking his head in amazement, bringing his hands up to tilt Steve’s face back and forth. 

“Hearing?” Bucky asks skeptically, looking at his ears as if that'd show him. 

“Perfect,” Steve says casually, enjoying the growing disbelief on Bucky's face. 

“Astigmatism?” He presses. 

“Fixed.”

“Oh yeah? How many fingers am I holding up.” Steve slaps his hand away, rolling his eyes, but Bucky just brings his hand to his face again, looking at him earnestly. 

“Diabetes?” 

“Cured,” Steve says, feeling a slight flush rising to his cheeks under Bucky's thumbs. Apparently Bucky sees it too, because he smiles and murmurs, “anemia?” 

“Cured,” Steve says in an equally hushed tone. Bucky slowly moves one hand to his shoulder and places the other over Steve's heart, his face open and attentive despite the bags under his eyes. He ducks down after a moment, placing his ear against Steve's ribs. He lets Bucky push him back on the cot so he can lie with his head pillowed on Steve's chest. It takes him a moment to get settled, unused to Steve's proportions, muscle memory trying to curl around a smaller body, but once he does, Steve's in no hurry to leave. They lie like that for a bit, just breathing and feeling one another's warmth amidst all the commotion of the medical tent and the base around them. Alive. Present. 

“Heart murmur,” Bucky mumbles nearly inaudibly after some span of time, muffled against Steve's chest. 

“Gone for good,” Steve says almost to himself, enjoying the feeling of Bucky's cheek pressed to his side and his arm slung over him, of being able to take Bucky's weight without running out of breath now. He smiles politely at the nurse from earlier when she notices them on her way by, and she flashes a polite grimace in return, obviously preoccupied with her job.

When Agent Carter finally shows up looking for Steve, her eyes finding his a few cots away before coming to stand next to them, he puts a finger to his lips and flicks his gaze down to Bucky, asleep on his chest. She smiles good naturedly down at them, opening her mouth as if to say something before closing it again, shaking her head slightly. Steve gives her a questioning look. She mouths “later” and gives them one last look before she leaves. Steve feels his heart swell at the sight, thinking how lucky he is to have met her. He still aches for Bucky from time to time, tries not to wish he shared the same regard, tries to appreciate the friendship he has. For the longest time he thought that even if he had found a girl who would tolerate his health issues, even loved him, he wouldn't be able to love her half as much as he loved Bucky. He's glad to have been proven wrong. Maybe he does have a chance at something resembling the life he's dreamed of.


End file.
